Executive Compensation — Printing’s Power Players

Unlike some professional sports, the printing industry seemingly has no salary cap when it comes to paying its top executives. Printing Impressions’ 14th annual executive compensation report shows this, while highlighting the industry’s top money earners at publicly held printing companies.

William Davis (who plans to retire), chairman, president and CEO of Chicago-based RR Donnelley, tops this year’s list, taking home more than $1.4 million, which is actually down from his salary last year.

The rankings indicate previous fiscal year salaries, most recent fiscal year wages and the percentage change in compensation from the two fiscal years that are shown.

While some executives, like Bruce Thomas of Cadmus Communications, scored when their total compensation went up several hundred thousand dollars, others, like Dennis Rediker of Standard Register, saw their annual salary get clipped. Interestingly, we found that Champion Industries’ Marshall Reynolds takes a salary of just $1.

This information is derived directly from the most recent proxy statements of publicly held U.S. and Canadian (where available) printing firms. Printing Impressions used base salaries and listed cash bonuses to establish compensation levels. We do not include any stock options, which may or may not have been exercised, or stock payouts. Note that these options may increase total yearly earnings greatly.